July Road Trip-Pt 1

After one whole year, and then some, we finally headed to visit our family and friends!!!  We had so many different states to visit so we decided on a road trip:)  Luckily, Keith was able to take a few days off to drive with us there, visit with his family, then drive us home later.  It was a SUPER FUN trip and we're so glad we did it:)  The kids were awesome in the car...Kassidy slept most of the time, we had the iPad hooked up for movies, and lots of toys and games to keep busy.

First stop...St Louis!  We left early in the morning and got there for a late dinner.  We saw Beth Ann and Matt's apartment downtown and had a yummy meal complete with ice cream for the kiddos.  The next morning we headed out to see the famous arch.  The city is currently doing some remodeling so it's kind of a mess down there.  Here's the view from our hotel.

 Apparently, all we had to do was find a cool escalator to entertain the kids;)  They did about a dozen turns up and down.  They even split up and did high-fives across the middle.

 After the arch we stopped by Beth Ann's news studio.  Here's our future meteorologist!

More news anchors...

Or Kaleb might be a storm chaser, he's still undecided.

Before lunch we headed out again on our drive.  This time we stopped in Avon Lake, at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  We love it when Grandma takes us to Dave and Busters!!!

 Cool straw glasses as prizes

Kassidy has been wanting to color her hair, so Aunt Emily was brave enough to help me do it with Kool-Aid.  Unfortunately, the purple barely showed up in her hair.

Just documenting that Karson learned to tie his shoes!  It was time for new shoes and he wanted these cool blue Nike tie ones, but didn't know how to tie.  Our deal-learn to tie your shoes and you get the shoes!  He's one quick learner!!!

 Grandma and Grandpa had a family reunion while we were there.  It was great to finally get everyone together!  Some of us adults hadn't even met yet.  These kiddos played so well together:)

Keith and the cousins

 The next day we went downtown to the Science Center.  What a cool place!  We took our time and explored each exhibit.

 Grandma and Kassidy built their own arch

Right outside the science center is the steamship William H Mather.  It's out of service now, but you get to tour inside and outside and see what it was like when it was a working freighter.  Pretty cool!

Some kind of Pirate Ship, not exactly sure, but it looked neat!

WARNING*  Professional Cannoli Killer!!!

 Round 2 of hair dying-this time we seeked out the help of Grandma's friend

Wa-la!  Blue tips!

 Our last stop with Grandma was a fun park.  We had such fun time doing bumper boats, go carts, mini golf, and batting cages.  The weather was hot so the water felt great:)

  Kaleb driving himself on the mini track

 Kassidy is big enough for the big track

Daddy and Karson take a ride on the big track

 I think Karson loved it:)

 There was a big battle in mini golf between Mother and Son for bragging rights...guess who won?!

Batter up!

Better pic of the blue (and some purple) tips

Next stop was Sandusky, Ohio, and the first fun thing was a real Power Ranger at my nephew Brayden's birthday party! 

We were all very excited to go to Cedar Point.  It's been a few years since we were on such tall and fast coasters!  Kaleb was thrilled to be tall enough this time for quite a few big rides:)  Here he is with Austin on the Blue Streak.

Kaleb's first ride on the Magnum with best bud Ryan.  Long story, but I'm not on with him and was freaking out a little...that's one tall, fast coaster by himself!  Of course, he LOVED it:)

Karson loved the small coaster! 

Since our family in Ohio has season passes, the kids were able to do this for only $5!  You can't pass that deal up, right?  Kassidy went with Ben and Kaleb went with Ryan.  Karson wasn't big enough.

A few more rides!

Boy sleepover at Mama's!  Here's Karson with Kyle and Austin.

Ryan and Kaleb with all their stuffed friends:)  I think they really like Pikachu...

 Silly kiddos:-)  That's Austin hiding his face up top.

Disney Hedband game at my sister Kaylin's

This pic blows my mind...my oldest niece is learning to drive!!!  I just cannot believe she's almost 16!  She did a very good job:)

Beach time!  We went to this beautiful little beach by my mom's house in Huron.  We even saw a wedding!

Ryan fascinated us all with his amazing card tricks!

Slip-n-slide FUN! ! !

 Getting daring now...

Next up, Lake Erie Crusher baseball game!  All the kiddos (Brayden is hiding behind Olivia, far R)

Maddie and Kassidy, twins tonight with their braids!

We saw a great fireworks show!

The kids even got to run the bases after the game!

Here comes Kaleb in the green shirt.

Here comes Karson in the dark blue shirt.

 Smore time, Yum Yum!!!

Can you say messy?

None of my pics except this one turned out at the skating rink.  The lighting is just too crazy.  We had fun skating, eating pizza, and playing on the bouncy houses.  (Yes, me too!)

I know what you're thinking...there's more?  Yes!!!  We had a terrific time visiting family, doing so many fun things, spending time together, etc.  I'm so thankful to have them:)